Mobile devices have become prevalent in the everyday life of many people. For instance, there are approximately 6.8 billion mobile telephony subscriptions worldwide, which refers to the number of devices or SIM cards being used, noting that many people have multiple devices or multiple accounts. This number is continuously increasing, and the mobile device market continues to grow at an astonishing rate.
Furthermore, people have come to rely on their mobile device for a variety of tasks, including, but certainly not limited to phone calls, text messages, emails, social media, entertainment, taking photographs or pictures, video chat, watching or downloading videos and other media, navigation assistance, for example, via GPS, etc. Particularly, users generally need or want to use their mobile device(s) while doing various activities (whether indoor or outdoor) throughout the day, including, for example, during travel in a car, bicycle, or walking, at a concert, wedding, or other social setting or activity, etc. If the mobile device is unavailable, for example, because it is incompatible with the activity and/or because there is insufficient charge in the battery, then the user may experience frustration and/or may perceive the utility of the mobile device as diminished.
Just as there are many types of mobile devices, there are also many different types of communication (data and/or audio) connectors and charging connectors by which to connect such devices to other devices, e.g., computers, headphones, chargers, etc. For example, in terms of the smartphone type of mobile device for the year 2013, there were at least seven manufacturers with significant market share. Of the seven manufacturers, however, two combined to have about 50% of the U.S. market (SAMSUNG® at about 26%-30% and APPLE® at about 15%-20%). While the majority of SAMSUNG® brand smartphones and APPLE® brand smartphones use the same connector for making data and/or charging connections, the SAMSUNG® brand data and/or charging (hereinafter “data/charging”) connectors are incompatible with the APPLE® brand data/charging connectors. Furthermore, within a given brand, different models of smartphones might require different data/charging connectors, e.g., the APPLE® brand IPHONE® 4 models use a different data/charging connector than the APPLE® brand IPHONE® 5 models.